FDNY officials responded to 44th Drive and Vernon Boulevard in Queens just before 5 p.m. for reports of a person in the East River.
The victim, an 80-year-old man, was discovered beneath a pier.
He was pulled from the water and pronounced dead at the scene.
The Medical Examiner's Office will determine his cause of death.
Police sources told Eyewitness News that the body pulled at this location has no connection to the missing swimmer authorities are searching for in Rockaway Beach.
That victim is believed to be a 17-year-old boy who went into the waters at Beach 73rd Street and Shore Front Parkway and never came out.
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